A video conferencing endpoint traditionally captures a meeting room from a single view point, where a main Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) camera is located. A typical meeting revolves around a desk and is captured by the PTZ camera from one of the desk ends. This set up can be limited. For example, two participants performing a dialog can be seated in a way that will require one of them to turn his or her head away from the camera. The camera captures the participant from behind, and the remote participants lack his or her frontal view. This is a particular problem when he or she is speaking. Another example is when a presenter approaches a whiteboard or projection or TV screen to point to his presentation. The whiteboard or screen is often located behind the camera. The presenter, while positioned at the whiteboard or screen, will be entirely out of camera view.
Some videoconferencing solutions add another camera to the meeting room endpoint to obtain an additional point of view. In two-camera solutions, it is common practice to have one camera still and transmitting video while the other camera is moving and searching for a next optimal point of view. When the next optimal point of view is identified, the system switches to that camera for video transmission and the other camera is moved to search for the next optimal point of view. This is not only an expensive solution but also adds a long cable to the meeting room, which can complicate or obstruct participant movement.